Friday, April 25, 2008

Many states appear to be in recession as deficits grow: "The finances of many states have deteriorated so badly that they appear to be in a recession, regardless of whether that's true for the nation as a whole, a survey of all 50 state fiscal directors concludes."-------------Check the map that accompanies the article. Illinois is one of the few that didn't even report its budget data. But even without data, there is no doubt that the state government is running a massive deficit and can't agree on how to deal with it. This is incredible. We have a 100% Democratic state executive branch, with both houses of the state legislature controlled by the Democrats. We also have a virtual one-party all-Dem system in Chicago and Cook County. Yet, these public officials can't translate that unified party control into productive action on the budget. All they do is fight with each other and argue about unfundable proposals to socialize health insurance in the state and other symbolic legislation.

The current legislative priority item seems to be impeaching Governor Blagojevich. That is a start, I suppose, in the sense that it might break the logjam. He seems to be trying to do an even worse job as governor than the now-incarcerated George Ryan.

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I am a professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an adjunct professor at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Nothing contained in this blog represents the opinions of UIC or John Marshall, and nothing you see here is legal advice. You can reach me at ecmlaw@gmail.com